Biography

Fourth season as a Griffin…Fourth year pro…Ranks among the Griffins’ all-time leaders with one overtime goal (T10th)…Ranks among the team’s playoff leaders with one shorthanded goal (T1st) and two first goals (T7th)…Signed to a three-year entry-level contract by Detroit, 5/4/10…Assigned to Kelowna (WHL) by Detroit, 9/21/10…Assigned by Detroit, 9/26/11…Assigned by Detroit, 9/14/12…Assigned by Detroit, 9/22/13…Recalled by Detroit, 9/27/13…Assigned by Detroit, 9/28/13…Recalled by Detroit, 3/24/14...Assigned by Detroit, 3/26/14...Re-signed to a one-year contract by Detroit, 7/17/14...Assigned by Detroit, 10/6/14.

2013-14: Shattered his previous two-year point total (17-12—29) by garnering 44 points (26-18-44) in 70 regular season games with Grand Rapids…Ranked among team leaders in goals (2nd), assists (9th), points (4th), penalty minutes (51, 6th)…Owned a team-best plus-23 rating and a team-high five game-winning goals…Suffered a mouth injury and missed the last six games of the regular season, 4/4/14-4/19/14…Put away a goal and assist in the season opener, 10/4/13 at RCH…Notched his second professional hat trick, 11/20/13 vs. MIL…Ran a four-game assist streak, 3/1/14-3/8/14…Made his NHL debut with Detroit, 3/25/14 at CBJ…Picked up five points (1-4—5) in eight playoff appearances with Grand Rapids. 2012-13: Won the Calder Cup in his second season with the Griffins…Bested his rookie-year totals in games played (71), goals (11), assists (9) and points (20)…Contributed 11 points (6-5—11) in 24 postseason contests…Finished eighth on the team in the regular season in goals and tied for fourth in the playoffs…Notched his first professional hat trick and first multi-point game with on 1/19/13 at Rockford…Tallied five points (4-1—5) in a two-game stretch, 1/19/13-1/23/13…Set a career high with two assists on 2/8/13 at Oklahoma City…Enjoyed his second multi-goal game of the season with two on 2/15/13 vs. Lake Erie…Recorded points in back-to-back games on five occasions in the playoffs, including Games 5 and 6 of the Calder Cup Finals against Syracuse…Tied for the team lead with five points (2-3—5) in the finals, including a goal and an assist during the Calder Cup-clinching game, 6/18/13 at Syracuse. 2011-12: Posted nine points (6-3—9) and 103 penalty minutes during his first professional season, which was limited to 48 games due to two separate injuries…Finished second among AHL rookies with 14 fighting majors…Scored his first professional goal, 11/23/11 vs. Hamilton…Recorded the game-winning goal and was named first star, 12/16/11 at Lake Erie…Earned points in consecutive games for the first time as a pro, 12/14/11-12/16/11…Tallied four points (2-2—4) in a six-game stretch, 12/14/11-12/30/11. 2010-11: Helped WHL Kelowna to a B.C. Division title by placing among team leaders with 23 goals (2nd), 31 assists (T3rd), 54 points (4th) and 87 penalty minutes (3rd)…Named WHL Player of the Week after notching 12 points (5-7—12) in four games, 11/2/10-11/6/10…Won a bronze medal with the United States at the World Junior Championship in Buffalo…Scored the game-winning goal against Switzerland to give the team a bye into the medal round…Finished second in Rockets playoff scoring with nine points (5-4—9) in 10 games, including four goals and three assists in a first-round sweep of Prince George. 2009-10: Improved offensive totals from rookie season by scoring 47 points (20-27—47) in 72 games with Kelowna, finishing fourth on the team in scoring…Led the team with 147 PIM and 19 fighting majors, ranking ninth and fourth in the WHL in those categories, respectively…Only Rocket to appear in every regular season game…Notched six points (2-4—6) in 12 playoff games. 2008-09: Made the eventual WHL champion Kelowna Rockets as an undrafted tryout…Contributed 27 points (14-13—27) in 70 regular season games and four points (1-3—4) in 22 playoff games…Ranked third in the WHL with 188 penalty minutes…Played in 2009 Memorial Cup, losing to the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires in the championship game.

Personal: Lives in Whittier, Calif….Has an older sister…Greatest hockey memory is winning the Calder Cup with the Griffins…Began playing hockey at the age of seven…Hockey nicknames are Cally and Caveman…Hockey idol as a youth was Darcy Tucker…Chose his jersey number because his previous number (24, Travis Richards) is retired in Grand Rapids…Greatest influences on his hockey career are his parents…Plans to own a restaurant after playing hockey…First job was playing hockey…Greatest obstacle he’s overcome was graduating high school…Proudest achievement is playing pro hockey…Favorite charity is the Griffins Youth Foundation…Most exciting thing he’s ever done was making a toast at his sister’s wedding…Most interesting fact about him is that his real name is John…If he could trade occupations for one day, he would trade with a pro surfer…Favorite food is teriyaki bowls…Favorite music artist is Drake…Least favorite music artist is Taylor Swift…Favorite movie is Lords of Dogtown…Favorite website is YouTube…Favorite vacation spots are the Bahamas and Las Vegas….Roots for the Los Angeles Dodgers…Enjoys baseball, bowling and movies.